Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Axalta Coating (AXTA) resumed with an Underperform at BofA/Merrill. 2. UBS (UBS) and Credit Suisse (CS) were initiated with an Underweight at Barclays. 3. Nutrien (NTR) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs. 4. Cambrex (CBM) initiated with an Outperform at William Blair. 5. Dicerna (DRNA) initiated with an Outperform at Evercore ISI. This list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

02/15/18

SOCG

02/15/18UPGRADESOCGBuy

Credit Suisse upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale

02/15/18

02/15/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Bristol-Myers (BMY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley with analyst David Risinger saying he has become more optimistic on the immuno-oncology Opdivo + Yervoy combo in first-line lung cancer, which he notes is the largest cancer market. 2. Salesforce (CRM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies with analyst John DiFucci saying recent field checks indicate continued strong enterprise traction as well improved commercial segment momentum, likely due to moderating Microsoft (MSFT) competition. 3. Credit Suisse (CS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale. 4. FMC Corporation (FMC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Seaport Global with analyst Michael Harrison saying he sees near-term catalysts from the Ag market recovery and secular growth in lithium, which the company plans to spinoff. 5. Baidu (BIDU) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley with analyst Grace Chen citing expectations for search sales reacceleration in 2018, the potential catalyst of the iQiyi IPO and the long-term potential contributions from AI. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

01/16/18

LEHM

01/16/18INITIATIONLEHMUnderweight

Credit Suisse initiated with an Underweight at Barclays

Barclays analyst Amit Goel started Credit Suisse with an Underweight rating and CHF 15.4 price target. The analyst thinks the company's new targets for 2019 and 2020 will not be achieved, along with some of the targets for 2018. He sees 16% downside potential from current share levels.

Following the latest series of tweets from President Trump aimed at Amazon (AMZN), Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said the e-commerce giant "clearly" has risks to its shipping margins if the USPS increases fees. However, he would expect any significant contract changes would see Amazon reallocate volume to UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) as well as accelerate the pace of its internal last-mile delivery efforts. Sebastian also points out that data indicate that the number of U.S. e-commerce jobs added since the end of the recession far exceeds the net decrease in physical retail jobs and Amazon's less than 5% market share "deems anti-trust a non-issue" in his view. He keeps an Outperform rating and $1,600 price target on Amazon shares.

BMO Capital analyst Fadi Chamoun kept his Outperform rating and $300 price target on FedEx following the company's "messy" Q3 results. Chamoun notes that above-consensus revenues reflected strong demand and pricing growth was at its highest levels in years, even as EBIT of $1.1B was below the expected $1.3B on weaker than expected results in the Express segment. The analyst is also positive on the company's progress in Ground operating margins and stable capital expenditures supporting higher free cash flows. Chamoun raises his FY18 EPS view to $15.24 from $14.04 and revenue outlook to $65.3B from $64.5B.

04/25/18

DBAB

04/25/18NO CHANGEDBAB

Amazon to see modest impact from Postal Service review, says Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Lloyd Walmsley believes President Trump's task force to scrutinize the finances of the U.S. Postal Service will have only a modest impact on Amazon.com (AMZN). The potential outcomes look "much more benign for Amazon than headlines and bluster would suggest," Walmsley tells investors in a research note, citing Postal Regulatory Commission data and discussions with industry contacts. Further, the analyst sees "potentially significant positive implications" for both FedEx (FDX) and UPS (UPS).

03/21/18

03/21/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley with analyst Steve Beuchaw citing share price underperformance and improving cancer testing survey share trends. 2. FedEx (FDX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel with analyst David Ross saying he likes the company's "general earnings trajectory" following third quarter results. 3. Children's Place (PLCE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi with analyst Kate McShane saying the company reported another quarter of industry leading comps. 4. Catalent (CTLT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James with analyst Michael Baker saying shares are down 15% following the first quarter report on tough second half 2018 comps, and believes shares reflect this dynamic now. 5. WellCare (WCG) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo with analyst Peter Costa saying he believes WellCare could benefit from significantly higher favorable prior period development in 2018. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

SQSquare

$54.65

0.36 (0.66%)

05/03/18

STFL

05/03/18UPGRADETarget $55STFLBuy

Square upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel

Stifel analyst Scott Devitt upgraded Square to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $55 from $46. The stock in premarket trading is down 5%, or $2.51, to $46.15. The analyst views last night's Q1 results as "impressive," highlighting the 31% gross payment volume growth versus last year. Adjusted revenue growth accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter amid continued strength in Subscription and Services, Devitt tells investors in a post-earnings research note. Further, the analyst "strongly" supports Square's decision to reinvest in key strategic areas.

05/08/18

SBSH

05/08/18NO CHANGESBSHNeutral

Square for Restaurants may be 'missing ingredients,' says Citi

After Square earlier today unveiled Square for Restaurants, a fully integrated point of sale system for the industry, Citi analyst Peter Christiansen said that it appears Square will have some hardware gaps or need to reply on third parties for some functionality. The analyst, who added that food and drink is likely Square's most important vertical, said that multi-vendor support for food delivery "could be the killer app for many independent restaurants," while noting that Square remains exclusive on delivery integration with Caviar. Christiansen keeps a Neutral rating on Square shares.

05/03/18

05/03/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Tableau (DATA) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at MUFG with analyst Stephen Bersey saying the company made "material progress" in its subscription transition during the first quarter, which depressed revenue and earnings in the quarter. 2. XO Group (XOXO) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley FBR with analyst Sameet Sinha saying the company's "solid" Q1 results indicate an acceleration in revenue growth. 3. Square (SQ) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel with analyst Scott Devitt saying he views last night's Q1 results as "impressive," highlighting the 31% gross payment volume growth versus last year. 4. Yum! Brands (YUM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird. 5. 3M (MMM) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital with analyst Deane Dray saying the 4-month decline in the stock price has taken its valuation to its historical relative PE support level. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

05/03/18

JEFF

05/03/18NO CHANGETarget $60JEFFBuy

Square should be bought on earnings selloff, says Jefferies

While lower margins is pressuring the shares, reinvesting in the business to drive "this magnitude of growth" is the right long term strategy for Square, Jefferies analyst Ramsey El-Assal tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He recommends buying the dip in Square shares following last night's Q1 results and keeps a Buy rating on the name with a $60 price target.

MSFTMicrosoft

$97.28

-0.76 (-0.78%)

04/27/18

JPMS

04/27/18UPGRADETarget $110JPMSOverweight

JPMorgan upgrades Microsoft to Overweight with $110 price target

JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy upgraded Microsoft to Overweight from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $110 from $94 following last night's Q3 results. The stock in premarket trading us up 4%, or $3.68, to $97.94. The global movement toward multi-cloud architectures will benefit Microsoft's Azure, Murphy tells investors in a research note. Further, he believes the company's "linkage to large digital transformation initiatives" and favorable positioning for hybrid cloud architectures create potential for additional upside.

04/27/18

04/27/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Facebook (FB) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel with analyst Scott Devitt acknowledging that he was wrong to have stuck with his recent view on Facebook following its first earnings report. 2. Microsoft (MSFT) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Mark Murphy saying the global movement toward multi-cloud architectures will benefit Microsoft's Azure. 3. Bristol-Myers (BMY) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital with analyst Alex Arfaei saying his concerns around the uncertainty of Opdivo sales erosion are mostly priced in, anticipating a 7% sales growth for the drug in 2019 and hoping for "more competitive" 1L-NSCLC readout that the recently disappointing IO data. 4. Nike (NKE) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC. 5. Intel (INTC) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein with analyst Stacy Rasgon citing the company's "very strong" Q1 report. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Credit Suisse analyst Michael Nemeroff says that Microsoft continues to leverage its existing and deep penetration in the enterprise to further distance itself among its technology peers by incorporating AI and ML into its dominant suite of productivity applications. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $115 price target on the shares.

05/15/18

NEED

05/15/18NO CHANGETarget $49NEEDBuy

Mimecast price target raised to $49 from $46 at Needham

Needham analyst Alex Henderson raised his price target on Mimecast (MIME) to $49 and kept his Buy rating after its "strong" Q4 results and initial FY19 guidance. The analyst notes that the wider than expected loss was in part due to the costs around the company's move to Lexington headquarters. Henderson adds that the upcoming quarter will be the first under the ASC 606 model, which should weigh on revenues but also add "solidly" to operating margins. The analyst is also positive on Mimecast's expansion in Europe following a "smooth" build-out in Germany, while its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) is not changing despite the comments made regarding security around Office 365.

ACNAccenture

$154.09

-1.38 (-0.89%)

03/28/18

03/28/18INITIATION

On The Fly: Top five analyst initiations

Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Spotify (SPOT) initiated with an Overweight at Atlantic Equities. 2. Accenture (ACN) initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein. 3. Bottomline Technologies (EPAY) initiated with a Buy at Citi. 4. Cadence Bancorp (CADE) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray. 5. Varonis (VRNS) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson. This list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri believes the recent selloff in Accenture stock provides an "attractive entry point" for investors considering multiple tailwinds, including demand strength in digital, uptick in IT budgets and a gradual spending recovery in the FS vertical. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $180 price target on the shares.

03/28/18

BERN

03/28/18INITIATIONTarget $180BERNOutperform

Accenture initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat started Accenture with an Outperform rating and $180 price target as she believes it is a structural winner, miles ahead of peers in the once-in-a-decade secular shift in IT Services.

03/20/18

WEDB

03/20/18NO CHANGETarget $180WEDBOutperform

Accenture price target raised to $180 from $165 at Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri raised his price target for Accenture to $180 from $165 to reflect potential earnings upside and FY18 guidance raise. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

IBMIBM

$143.76

-0.55 (-0.38%)

04/26/18

DADA

04/26/18INITIATIONTarget $72DADABuy

Pegasystems initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson

DA Davidson analyst Rishi Jaluria initiated Pegasystems (PEGA) with a Buy rating and a price target of $72, citing the company's market leading position in the business process management and case management markets amid the crowing presence of customer relationship management technologies. Jaluria says the company continues to take market share from legacy vendors like IBM (IBM) and Oracle (ORCL) and increasing its competitive position in CRM, while driving opportunities for margin expansion.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Joseph Foresi keeps a Neutral rating on IBM with a $152 price target following last night's Q1 results. He believes a return to consistent organic growth and margin expansion are necessary for sustainable multiple expansion from present levels. IBM had flat constant currency growth due to underperformance in its storage segment, Foresi tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He notes, however, that management appeared optimistic regarding long-term margin improvement after the quarterly restructuring. The analyst awaits better visibility on IBM's ability to consistently grow the business and scale margins before getting more constructive on the stock.

04/18/18

LEHM

04/18/18NO CHANGETarget $188LEHMOverweight

IBM shares to be under pressure in near term, says Barclays

Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz expects shares of IBM to be under pressure in the near term following last night's Q1 results. The analyst lowered his price target for the stock to $188 from $192 but keeps an Overweight rating on the name. The lack of revenue growth "may not be a backbreaker," but IBM's "perplexing declaration" that gross margin "stabilization" has arrived despite Q1's 30 basis point year-over-year will likely frustrate investors, Moskowitz tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He thinks investors regard stabilization as meaning gross margin is heading higher and not just exhibiting moderating year-over-year declines.

04/18/18

STFL

04/18/18NO CHANGETarget $182STFLBuy

IBM fundamentals may be more stable than they seem, says Stifel

Stifel analyst David Grossman blames IBM's pretax margins coming in below estimates, as well as the run-up in the stock ahead of earnings, for the afterhours pullback in the stock. While he finds it "a bit hypocritical to reward companies that pro forma out restructuring actions" and penalize IBM for leaving them in, he believes that should normalize over time if the company executes. Grossman, who still likes IBM as a defensive name with catalysts, sees support at a 4% dividend yield, or about $150 per share, which he said "is where large cap legacy tech typically bottoms." He maintains a Buy rating and $182 price target on the shares.

Bernstein analyst A.M. Sacconaghi, Jr. notes that Apple (AAPL) and HP Enterprise (HPE) have announced large buyback programs with repatriated cash. The analyst sees two impacts from strong repurchases, namely a significant boost EPS to FY18 and FY19 EPS, and potential support for the stock. Overall, Sacconaghi is incrementally positive on Apple following earnings, and continue to see risk-reward on HP Enterprise as favorable.

02/23/18

BMOC

02/23/18NO CHANGETarget $19BMOCMarket Perform

HP Enterprise price target raised to $19 from $14 at BMO Capital

BMO Capital analyst Tim Long raised his price target on HP Enterprise to $19 after the company's Q1 results showed "solid growth across every major business unit and geography". Following several quarters of execution related issues, the analyst says he was encouraged by more positive trends and the management's capital returns and cost savings plans. Long keeps his Market Perform rating on HP Enterprise, opting to await more broad signs of growth.

03/02/18

JPMS

03/02/18INITIATIONTarget $21JPMSNeutral

HP Enterprise initiated with a Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster started HP Enterprise with a Neutral rating and $21 price target. The analyst sees better risk/reward trade-offs elsewhere in his IT Hardware coverage. He believes, however, that HP Enterprise looks attractively valued.

03/02/18

03/02/18INITIATION

On The Fly: Top five analyst initiations

Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Home Depot (HD), Lowe's (LOW), Tempur Sealy (TPX), Mohawk (MHK), Lumber Liquidators (LL) and Michaels (MIK) initiated with a Hold at Loop Capital. The firm also started Fortune Brands (FBHS) and Wayfair (W) with a Buy. 2. Aflac (AFL), Lincoln National (LNC), Brighthouse Financial (BHF), MetLife (MET) Unum (UNM), Principal Financial (PFG) and Reinsurance Group (RGA) initiated with a Neutral at UBS. The firm also initiated Voya (VOYA) and FGL Holdings (FG) with a Buy and Torchmark (TMK) and American Equity (AEL) with a Sell. 3. HP Enterprise (HPE) initiated with a Neutral at JPMorgan. 4. Caterpillar (CAT), Deere (DE), United Rentals (URI) and Wabco (WBC) initiated with an Overweight, Oshkosh (OSK), Terex (TEX), Cummins (CMI), CNH Industrial (CNHI) and REV Group (REVG) initiated with an Equal Weight and Paccar (PCAR) and Agco (AGCO) initiated with an Underweight at Morgan Stanley. 5. Conatus (CNAT) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

MKM Partners analyst Michael Genovese notes that press is reporting that ZTE Corp. (ZTDOY) is banned from purchasing U.S. technology for seven years for violating the terms of a previously settled sanctions violation case. While all component names are trading down on the news, the analyst has a more nuanced view since Huawei and Nokia (NOK) will gain share at ZTE's expense. Genovese views the news as negative for Acacia (ACIA), which had 30% revenue exposure to ZTE in 2017 and 16% in Q4. However, he thinks the news is positive for NeoPhotonics (NPTN), which has 40% exposure to Huawei and much smaller ZTE exposure, and for Nokia, which will gain some of ZTE's share. Additionally, the analyst sees the news as neutral to positive for Lumentum (LITE), Oclaro (OCLR) and Finisar (FNSR), which have significantly more Huawei and Nokia exposure than ZTE exposure.

04/25/18

JEFF

04/25/18NO CHANGEJEFF

Ciena, Infinera potential winners from Huawei probe, says Jefferies

After The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Huawei violated U.S. sanctions related to Iran, Jefferies analyst George Notter said he sees Ciena (CIEN), Infinera (INFN), and possibly Nokia (NOK), which all compete with both Huawei and ZTE (ZTCOY) in international markets excluding China, as potential winners from the news. He also noted that, based on company disclosures, Huawei accounted for nearly 17% of Lumentum's (LITE) sales in FY17, about 15% of FY17 sales for Oclaro (OCLR) and 11% of FY17 sale for Finisar (FNSR). However, he also cautioned that it is possible that any impact to Huawei be negotiated away or significantly reduced and it is also possible that any DOJ investigation doesn't yield evidence of any wrong-doing.

"We have seen this movie before" is what William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma says after Bloomberg reported yesterday that Google (GOOG, GOOGL) is in advanced talks to acquire Nokia's in-flight connectivity hardware business. Google joins a long list of technology, telecom, and media providers that have exhibited a strategic interest in in-flight Wi-Fi, "although all have thus far stayed on the perimeter," DiPalma tells investors in a research note. The analyst notes that incumbents Gogo (GOGO), Panasonic (PCRFY), ViaSat (VSAT), Global Eagle Entertainment (ENT), and Inmarsat (IMASY) have invested billions toward satellite capacity and infrastructure. The industry is all about scale and potential new entrants would not have any, DiPalma contends. He believes it would take any new entrant many years to build a network from scratch, obtain regulatory approvals, and procure line-fit partnerships. The analyst thinks Google's interest in in-flight connectivity increases the probability that a tech or telecom company would buy an incumbent in the space. DiPalma has Outperform ratings on ViaSat and Gogo and a Market Perform rating on Global Eagle.

SAPSAP

$113.62

-1.53 (-1.33%)

03/05/18

RBCM

03/05/18NO CHANGETarget $115RBCMSector Perform

SAP price target lowered to $115 from $123 at RBC Capital

RBC Capital analyst Ross MacMillan lowered his price target on SAP to $115 ahead of the company's Capital Markets Day to reflect the underperformance in the stock price. The analyst says he will look for signals around accelerating adoption in S/4H platforms, sustainable organic cloud growth, and a path toward the management's margin goals. MacMillan keeps his Sector Perform rating on SAP, stating while the current share price reflects a balance in risk-reward, he views the company's fundamentals around the S/4 product cycle and LoB cloud apps positively.

04/24/18

DBAB

04/24/18NO CHANGEDBAB

SAP removed from the short-term buy list at Deutsche Bank

03/12/18

EVER

03/12/18UPGRADEEVEROutperform

SAP upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI analyst Stewart Materne III upgraded SAP to Outperform, stating that he believes the risk/reward is more attractive at current levels following the stock's 6% pullback. 2019 catalysts include the heart of the S/4 cycle and if SAP can execute to its FY18 targets he thinks there is upside to consensus estimates, added the analyst.

03/12/18

03/12/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Time Warner (TWX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS with analyst John Hodulik saying while he expects the takeover by AT&T (T) to receive regulatory approval, he believes the current environment would make Time Warner's assets "highly attractive" to other media companies and Internet-based competitors were the deal to be blocked. 2. Carlyle Group (CG) and Apollo Global (APO) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi. 3. Merck (MRK) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink with analyst Seamus Fernandez saying Keytruda will continue to dominate the first-line non-small cell lung cancer market. 4. SAP (SAP) upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI with analyst Stewart Materne III saying that he believes the risk/reward is more attractive at current levels following the stock's 6% pullback. 5. Aratana Therapeutics (PETX) upgraded to Buy on valuation at CL King with the firm citing favorable risk/reward. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.